Tuesday, October 30, 2012

The Road to Hell is Also Paved with Stupidity 4

Word about town is that the N.T.S.B. is YET AGAIN threatening to make it illegal for parents to carry their infants on their laps during air travel - for safety's sake. But it's stupid. I mean, yeah, it may in fact save the lives of one or two infants per decade but can we at least look at the ramifications? People choose their mode of transportation based upon a number of factors, not the least of which is money. How many of these individuals, in an effort to avoid having to fork over the additional $200-400 per seat, are simply going to forgo air travel altogether and instead take their vacation via automobile, A MODE OF TRANSPORTATION THAT IS INFINITELY MORE DANGEROUS THAN AIR TRAVEL? I mean, I know that these bureaucrats aren't necessarily bred to think beyond the immediate and all but, geez, you gotta have a little bit of common sense, no?

It's instructive in the sense that if these same people chose automobiles instead of airlines (because of the policy and the cost of it), the number of deaths AND injuries would be significantly higher.............Think about what you say before you say it, Ema. This policy will INCREASE airline profits at the expense of the consumer.

It is safer to fly than to drive on a based on deaths/injuries per mile traveled. Therefore I propose a policy of limiting airline profits and forcing them to lower ticket prices so that more people will fly instead of drive. You should agree with this policy since you favor policies that have the lowest injury/deaths associated with them.

No, I'm vociferously opposed to government price controls (a la Hoover, FDR, Nixon) and limitations on how much a private company can accrue via the market place, a) philosophically and b) because of the unintended consequences of THAT (reductions in both supply and quality).

And we could clone Mussolini and make the airlines run perfectly. Jerry, I was examining the effects of A policy, whether it's a good policy or a bad policy. There aren't any slippery slopes involved in that.

Rusty said: "Jerry,are you serious?You really want to limit the profit a public company can make?"

No, what he proposes won't limit their profit. He will just make sure that his over-regulation and over-taxation forces the company to make money in another country. Another country that sees the benefit of the jobs, products, and investment.